Student Spotlight:
Katy Zaharov

Featured in this week’s student spotlight is Katy Zaharov, a second-year bioengineering student. Katy is one of several students who are part of the Washington STate Academic RedShirt (STARS) program that assists motivated first-year engineering and computer science students in their transition to the rigor of college curriculum.

Why would you recommend attending Washington State University, or how have you benefitted from attending WSU?

I love WSU for the community and home-y aesthetic, no matter what you will bond with someone over school, academics, general interests, or the fact that we are all Cougs!

Something that I extremely benefited from is all the tutoring services WSU has to offer. We so many tutoring services all over campus (and online) who specialize in certain subjects like the engineering classes, writing, business, economics, etc. If WSU has the class, there must be a tutor outside of the professor and TA that can help, but you gotta reach out for it when you need it!

What advice do you have for fellow or prospective students? What can you recommend they do to succeed in your major? How can they do well during COVID-19?

Doing whatever makes you happy and don’t worry about what other people might think- especially when you have an idea for something but are scared to act on it.

Find your passion and hold onto it, you will know when it comes and when it does, everything will fall into place- as long as you stay on top of your goals.

Learn when you study best, and when do you need to take a break.

Meet your professors. Don’t be shy – I would always introduce myself in the beginning of the semester to make sure I have a good relationship with them. This helps me out the most because I feel less awkward when asking questions or showing up to their office hours. It’s become more difficult with the online atmosphere, but making those connections will really help in the long run.

Same goes with attending clubs and intramurals or even introducing yourself to a peer in the class. From every conversion you have, there is bound to be something you can take/learn from.

What made you decide to attend WSU? Why did you choose your major?

I chose my major based on what I imagined myself doing in the future – working in a lab conducting research. I found a major that accommodated my dreams, instead of choosing a major, then trying to convince myself that I like it.

What has been your favorite class, club, or program that you have been involved with at WSU, and why?

I think that the STARS program has benefitted me the most because I made so many connections within my peers and staff.